June 25th Rested and well fed the cyclists left Hazen not by riding into the sunset but by riding 12 miles to a Sunday family reunion picnic, which is why western movies never featured cowboys on bicycles, except perhaps for the opening scene of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

After getting one last filling of home cooking they got on their bikes and went a further 40 miles to a campground at Turtle Lake.

June 26th Mike phoned tonight and called from the Central Time Zone town of Carrington, ND - known as "The Central City" - population in 2000 was 2,268 - . They made 91 miles today and enjoyed a tailwind during the start of the day. Later in the day the tailwind shifted around almost into the north east. Rain showeres were around them but not on them. They are camping in a city park tomight and were able to get showers at the pool after they pulled into town. It was after 9 PM and they still hadn't had their dinner yet when he called.

As Mike was figuring out what time it must be he realized to his dismay that the place that they had decided to eat at closed at 9 PM. There are still some places they can buy some food but no place close by where they can get a meal. He said after 91 miles he didn't feel like riding somewhere to eat.

Mike reported that getting to Minneapolis shouldn't be too bad - something like three sixty mile days and three seventy mile days.

The forecast for the Carrington area for tomorrow is for sunny skies, highs in the low 70s and a wind edging up to 10 mph from the north.

June 27th They stayed in Hope, ND. No cell service, no hot water in the city park shower.

June 27th Mike called from the intersection of 157th Ave and 25th St. which is a crossroads amongst grain fields. (no sign of any township anywhere close) He was near Fargo, but not sure what town he was in. (Isn't that funny?) Those mid west roads are all in distinct grids and numbered. The last town he had ridden through consisted of a post office and nothing else. He was eating a yummy peanut butter and jelly wrap. Terry and Charlie were way ahead somewhere. He was taking his own sweet time. He said his butt was hurting so he was standing up to pedal at times to relieve the pain. He had called my dad in Walton earlier to check on the flooding of our Delaware River. He had heard about it out there somehow!!

One other thing to note. By the time they got to Cooperstown, ND they were back on the Adventure Cycling route after their detour south to Hazen, ND.

In any event Mike had heard that there was flooding in upstate NY and was looking for some details.

If you jump over to the Meanwhile Back at the Ranch section you can get some details on the flooding.

June 28th Mike called from Fargo. They were staying at Terry's brother's house. He had to get a new chain for his bike.

June 29 Pelican Rapids, MN - Mike called to check on our flood damage...He and Terry were camping at a great campsite in the city park of Pelican Rapids, Minnesota. A kid had come by in a kayak, stopped to talk and recommended a nice route that parallels Rt 94. He may ride with them tomorrow. They had walked downstream to find the rapids...a spillway with a white pelican statue by it.

Earlier, they had decided to ride on Route 10 to make better time than the Adventure Cycling route. But, they found it too busy with bad shoulders.

Charlie rides much faster so was out of reach when they decided to go back to the mapped route. So, Charlie will spend the night miles away in Perham, right on Rt 10.. They hope to meet up with him when their route crosses Rt 10 in a day or two. Cell phones are great...they can change their minds without worrying about each other!!!

They are riding by kettle lakes formed by ice left behind by glaciers during the ice ages. The weather is nice...a south wind kept them cool but impeded their progress a bit. Charlie wants to be pedaling south out of Minneapolis on the 4th of July. His wife is coming to meet him ...and he has some friends meeting them to accompany him to Atlanta.

Mike has a deadline now also (I want him to meet me in Stillwater, just east of Minneapolis, on the St Croix River), so he and Terry are going to try to ride 70 miles each day for the next 3 days. If they don't make it, I will drive to find them!

Reaching Minneapolis ia a major milestone since it is on the Mississippi River!!

Mike's shoulders feel better, now that he is resting more and standing up to pedal quite a bit. He has had lots of comments on his Raleigh fenders that match his Jamis. Its coincidental that they match...they were hand me downs from our neighbor Phil. It makes the bike look customized!

June 30, 2006 Here in Sauk Centre, MN. As has happened often, we were given alternatives to the route that we had planned. Today was no different. Phil Hauk, of Pelican Rapids, gave us directions to a rail trail from Fergus Falls to Sauk Center. It is on the way to getting back with Charlie which may happen tomorrow or Sunday. We rode 94 miles against a hot south wind mostly on the rail trai called the Central Lakes Trail and then the Lake Wobegon Regional Trail. It was nice to be off the roads. We got into Sauk Centre and in looking for a place to stay, a couple came out of a restaurant and immediately introduced themselves. Dave and Linda talked to us for a while and eventually invited us to stay at their house. We are here now showered, filled with food, we went out for dinner and doing chores getting ready for bed. Dave publishes a guide to bike trails among other things in the Minn. area. He is giving us lots of input into getting to our destination. All for now.

July 6, 2006 In Minneapolis, Mn. Staying at the Marquette Hotel in downtown. The riding in from Sauk Center was completed in 2 days. We rode 104 miles from Sauk Center to Cambridge and then 47 on to William O'Brien State Park near Marine on St. Croix. We had good favorable winds for both riding days that made the long distance less of a chore. Becky met me at the State Park and we spent 3 nights there. While there we visited Stillwater, Mn for meals and touristy stuff. On the 4th we met Randy and Janet Kittle, who live in Mound, Mn. about 25 miles west of Minneapolis. We had dinner and enjoyed our deck dining and visiting until about 10:00pm. People were flooding in for the fireworks and we decided that leaving before the show started was best as our campground closed its gate at 11. Randy and Janet also had 1.5 hours of driving ahead of them. It was real nice to see other familiar faces on this trip. Becky being the first since Dee Munro in Whitefish. With a few days off from riding, I am taking time to reflect on the first part of the adventure. I will expound more later in the day. Right now I am between radio interviews about my cancer survirorship and biking across the country. It has been fun talking to the radio celebrities and I look forward to the rest on the spots. Later I have an interview with a newspaper correspondent. I will post the web site for the paper and give more info on when the article will appear when I know more. Tomorrow I meet with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Minnesota for a luncheon talk. After that I will return to William O'Brien SP whaer I will continue my trip on Saturday AM. It is nice to be with Becky for a few days. We have had time to talk about home stuff, mostly flood issues and family stuff. She flys out today and I will accompany her to the airport. More later.

3:30PM Well Becky has just left for the airport. I rode with her. I still have another day here to do the LLS lunch/meeting and then will be back at the State Park for Fri. night.

to see what happened next click the link below to get to the next section

Minneapolis, MN to Manitowoc, WI